Dodgers Lead MLB in Payroll...
by Eric Stephen on Feb 19, 2010 10:49 PM PST
in Research
40 comments
...spent on players on the disabled list over the last eight seasons.
Jeff Zimmerman of Beyond the Box Score used the wonderful injury database from Josh Hermsmeyer of Rotoblog.com do look at salaries lost due to time on the disabled list. Earlier in the week, Zimmerman looked at individual players with the most salary paid for DL time from 2002 to 2009, and not surprisingly found Jason Schmidt near the top. His $47 million lost over the past eight seasons is second only to Mike Hampton. Other Dodgers to make the unfortunate top (or bottom) 100 list include Eric Gagne (19th), Rafael Furcal (46th).
Today, Zimmerman took his research a few steps further, and found the salaries paid to disabled players for all 30 major league teams over the last eight seasons. The Dodgers "led" in both total salary paid to players on the DL (about $214 million) and percentage of total payroll lost to DL time (27%).
I decided to take a look back at 2009 myself just to see how the Dodgers fared specifically. I used the transaction dates from the Dodgers media guide, because while the MLB.com online transaction history is cool it isn't always updated to include the official dates (maybe off by a day or two here and there). The season runs 183 days long, which last season began on Sunday, April 5 and ended on October 4. Player salaries are pro-rated by the day, as you may have noticed if you've glanced at our payroll worksheet.
In 2009, the Dodgers had 14 players make 18 different trips to the disabled list, missing a total of 1,105 days. Here's a breakdown of last season's Dodger hurt locker:
| Player | 2009 Salary | DL Date | Days on DL | Salary Lost |
| Delwyn Young | $406,000 | March 27* | 9 | $20,077 |
| Claudio Vargas | $400,000 | March 27* | 89 | $195,604 |
| Jason Schmidt | $16,000,000 | March 30* | 106 | $9,318,681 |
| Hiroki Kuroda | $10,000,000 | April 7 | 55 | $3,021,978 |
| Cory Wade | $402,500 | April 12 | 18 | $39,808 |
| Doug Mientkiewicz | $550,000 | April 17 | 138 | $417,033 |
| Hong-Chih Kuo | $437,000 | April 30 | 88 | $211,297 |
| Xavier Paul | $400,000 | May 21 | 137 | $301,099 |
| Will Ohman | $1,350,000 | May 28 | 129 | $956,868 |
| Eric Stults | $402,000 | May 31 | 31 | $68,473 |
| Eric Milton | $650,000 | June 6 | 21 | $75,000 |
| Eric Milton | $650,000 | June 28 | 99 | $353,571 |
| Ronald Belisario | $400,000 | July 6 | 33 | $72,527 |
| Cory Wade | $402,500 | July 12 | 21 | $46,442 |
| Jason Schmidt | $16,000,000 | August 6 | 60 | $5,274,725 |
| Hiroki Kuroda | $10,000,000 | August 16 | 21 | $1,153,846 |
| Guillermo Mota | $2,350,000 | August 30 | 15 | $193,681 |
| Travis Schlichting | $400,000 | August 31 | 35 | $76,923 |
| Totals 14 players, 18 DL trips |
1,105 | $21,797,635 | ||
| Percent of Total Payroll | 19.8% | |||
| *DL days started on April 5 | ||||
That's a ton of salary paid to disabled players, but two-thirds of it was paid to Schmidt, who was active for only 17 of the 183 days. Knock on wood, but now that the payroll is no longer about Schmidt, I expect an decrease in salaries paid to disabled Dodgers in 2010.
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Might as well add Mannie to this list
or was his salary forfitted during the suspension?
Manny’s salary was forfeited during the suspension.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 19, 2010 11:40 PM PST up reply actions
Great Stuff
but I’d be curious how we rank in days lost more then salary. How much WAR was lost:)
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
What was Darren D contract again? I forgot. Also, I remember Kevin Brown was always down. I guess that’s why they don’t want to give pitchers long term contracts. Sorry if this is off topic.
by Skunkburner on Feb 20, 2010 8:32 AM PST via mobile reply actions
Dreifort was 5/55. Brown made 129 starts in the five years he was in LA. If he averaged 34 starts a season and stayed healthy, he would have made 170 starts, so he made about 76% of the starts one might have expected. Three great full seasons, one very good but injury-plagued season of 19 starts, and one pretty bad season mostly lost to injuries (10 starts). 147 ERA+ as a Dodger overall.
It’s just that losing your ace hurts so much more that it feels like he missed more games, I think.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
If you thought trading Tony Abreu for Garland was bad, the BA handbook said the D-Backs talked about RHP Allen Webster (#10 prospect) as well. We’re very fortunate to still have him.
Michael Watt, the most recent #2 pick at the time, was one of the two pitchers traded for Maddux (and cash) the last time. Would Webster really have been shocking?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Watt was a contingent on making the playoffs. Webster straight up for Garland would have shown that Colletti has no idea how to properly evaluate talent.
Making the playoffs meant two prospects instead of one, and Perez was the one added, not Watt. And it’s not like Maddux did anything that got the Dodgers into the playoffs.
It’s a good analogy
by Eric Stephen on Feb 20, 2010 10:38 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
How much of Schimdt’s contract was insured? So how much money did or will the Dodgers get back from the Insurance company?
The Dodgers got something like $11-12m from insurance but I believe most was for missing all of 2008. Not sure what they got, if anything, for 2007 or 2009.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 20, 2010 10:41 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
The 2008 Dodger Injury List Dollars: Alias Schmidt and Jones?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Gagne is wearing number 38. No word on Troncoso’s new # yet
by Eric Stephen on Feb 20, 2010 10:19 AM PST via mobile reply actions
I doubt it affects his status. Besides, he can always have 38 once the season starts once Gagne doesn’t make the team.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 20, 2010 11:01 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Do you think Gagne will pitch in Triple-A for a month or two when he doesn’t make the team? Or will he ask for his release?
Depends if he thinks he can get a job elsewhere or not. He pitched in the Can-Am league so I doubt AAA is beneath him. Although he is presumably healthy now, unlike last year, so perhaps he wouldn’t want to pitch in the minors.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 20, 2010 11:10 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Can he hit?
I have a spot open on my slow-pitch team. I might be better off going after Giles though.
Depends on what interest he thinks other teams might have in him based on how he looks in ST.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 20, 2010 11:10 AM PST up reply actions
The Dodgers aren’t the only team that will see him pitch in the spring.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 20, 2010 11:12 AM PST up reply actions
I’ve seen retired numbers before in Spring Training. If they make it onto the team once the season begins, they get a new number. There are always a lot more available then: i.e. one of the numbers used by someone else in ST, who doesn’t make it onto the team.
Can you cite an example? I think that would be terrible. When Sandy Koufax comes to visit with the pitchers, should he have to encounter some NRI joker wearing #32? And I can’t imagine a team putting pressure, perceived or otherwise, on a prospect or player by issuing him a retired number – here Withrow you get #53, now withstand all the comparisons to Drysdale.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 20, 2010 11:09 AM PST up reply actions
I believe that’s a typo. Dodgers had Restovich as #29 in the spring press release
by Eric Stephen on Feb 20, 2010 10:57 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Whaaat? That’s not retired for Lenny Harris and Tim Wallach?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 20, 2010 11:10 AM PST up reply actions
Insufficient appearances to sear that number into my memory. ;)
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 20, 2010 11:19 AM PST up reply actions
Manny's hand/wrist from last season
I’m noticing that the mainstream articles are mentioning the hand/wrist much more often when discussion Manny’s second half last year, instead of just falling back on the post-suspension period. Dylan Hernandez in the LA Times today for example:
Whether it was because of the two-month layoff, psychological problems resulting from the controversy or a fastball that struck him on the wrist in July, Ramirez looked uncharacteristically impotent at the plate down the final stretch of the season. From July 16 on, Ramirez hit …July 16 was the first game of the homestand that included the HBP and Bobbleslam, not the first game back from the suspension. Don’t know why he started there instead of with or just after Bobbleslam.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego
|
76 | 56 | .575 | 0 | Lost 7 |
|
San Francisco
|
74 | 60 | .552 | 3 | Won 2 |
|
Colorado
|
69 | 63 | .522 | 7 | Lost 2 |
|
Los Angeles
|
68 | 66 | .507 | 9 | Lost 2 |
|
Arizona
|
55 | 79 | .410 | 22 | Won 3 |
(updated 9.2.2010 at 3:17 AM PDT)
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